VANKLEEK HILL COUGARS CLEAN UP THE OPPOSITION OVER THE FIRST DECEMBER WEEKEND
Their coach called it a “perfect weekend” in the end for the Vankleek Hill Cougars.
The Cougars crowned the Bytown Royals Saturday night on home ice, shutting down the visiting team 3-0. The following Sunday night in Saint-Isidore, the Cougars took the game 5-3 against their hosts.
“We knew going in this game (Sunday), it wasn’t going to be easy,” stated Coach Franky Dopelhamer in an email. “We were playing without the league’s top defenceman, Keean McEachern, and we were also missing on defence Joey Simoneau and Zack Labbé. But it was a big game for Jonathan Lacroix, with four goals and an assist. Jonathan was the player of the game, he could’ve scored seven goals, he was so fast and creating so many (scoring) opportunities, it was a pleasure to watch.”
Nicolas Castonguay, Dopelhamer noted, also proved part of the Cougars’ strength Sunday night, assisting on four of the five goals scored that night. His own scoring efforts this season has also made him the top-scoring player now in the National Capital Junior Hockey League (NCJHL) with a total of 39 points.
“The Cougars had a game plan and played it really well,” stated Dopelhamer, about Sunday’s performance in Saint-Isidore. “Keeping last year’s top-two scoring team of Saint-Isidore’s Brunette and Howson off a scoresheet is not an easy task, but we did it.”
Scoring goals over the weekend for
Vankleek Hill were Jonathan Lacroix with two and Christophe Quann with a single against Bytown. Assisting on the goals Saturday night were Quann, Castonguay, Nikolas Ayotte, and Joey Simoneau, with Frederick Durocher-Bourdon guarding the net. Sunday in Saint-Isidore Lacroix scored four goals for his hat-trick performance, with Samuel Lemay popping in a single. Goal assists came from Castonguay, Lacroix, Justin Chaumont, Charles-Olivier Portelance, and Maxim Rozon, with Durocher-Bourdon again guarding the net.
The Cougars are in Gatineau this Friday against the Hull-Volant. Saturday night they host the North Dundas Rockets.
Clarence Creek
The Clarence Creek Castors split their weekend game results with a loss to the North Dundas Rockets and a win against the Metcalfe Jets.
Saturday night in Chesterville the Castors lost 10-3 to the North Dundas Rockets. Scoring for Clarence Creek were Kyle Goodman, Zack Lugli, and Jacob Servant. Assisting on the goals were Samuel Gaudet, Nicholas
Gaumond, and Austin Laprade, with Jacob Di Giloramo and Andrew Larivière sharing goalkeeping duty.
Scoring a four-goal hat trick for the Rockets was Joel Hunt, with Jarrett Williams punching in a pair of points, and Nicholas Carroll, Jack Dewan, Justin Lefebvre, and William Watson scoring singles. Goal assists came from Carroll, Hunt, Lefebvre, Josh Tapp, Jack Van Kessel, Xavier Langevin, Brett Lannin, and Cole Hodges. Sebastian Moreau guarded the net.
Sunday afternoon on their home ice, the Castors brought the Jets down 5-2, with Gaumond scoring two goals, and Lugli, Caleb Smith, and Connor Head-Smith tossing in singles. Assisting on the scoring were Lugli, Smith, Chris Bettez-Scott, Brody Dell’Elce, Byron Gagne-Lavictoire, Kyle Goodman, and Logan Lefebvre. Larivière guarded the net.
The Castors are on the road December 14 to play the West Carleton Inferno. They host the Morrisburg Lions Sunday afternoon at home.
Saint-Isidore
The December 7 weekend proved a winand-lose situation for Saint-Isidore in NCJHL hockey.
Saint-Isidore beat the Morrisburg Lions 6-4 Saturday night at the Morrisburg Arena. Sunday night at home Saint-Isidore lost 5-3 to the Vankleek Hill Cougars. No game details for either match were available at press time.
Saint-Isidore has an away game December 13 against the Bytown Royals. Sunday night at home Saint-Isidore hosts the Metcalfe Jets.